


I'll Always Be There

by lunabelle



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Love, Married Couple, Protective Andy Dwyer at his finest, Protective Husband
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 13:12:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10617609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunabelle/pseuds/lunabelle
Summary: Something about that guy just didn’t feel right.  Part of him wanted to invite himself along on their lunch just to keep an eye on him.  Then, he thought better of it.  April might think he was jealous, or worse, that he didn’t trust her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Requested anonymously on tumblr as "Protective Andy"  
> Alternates between Andy and April's POV

“Seriously babe, I have the hottest wife in the world,” Andy Dwyer smiled, resting all his weight against the wall of the tiny storage closet up on the desolate fourth floor of Pawnee City Hall. April smirked, adjusting her skirt and reapplying her lipstick, as Andy buckled his belt. “Best morning quickie ever.”

“Definitely awesome,” she nodded, smoothing out her clothes and checking her hair.

April had just gotten back from a week-long work trip with Leslie for the National Parks Service, and suffice to say, Andy missed her a whole lot. Since she’d walked in the door the night before, they hadn’t wasted another moment apart.

“So…same place come lunch time?” he asked, spinning her around to give her a quick kiss.

“Dude,” April laughed. “Aren’t you tired yet? It’s been like four times since we woke up this morning!”

“Tired of my beautiful wife? No way,” Andy shook his head.

“Babe, as much as I’d love to,” April cracked the door open and checked to see if the hallway was abandoned before leading him out by the hand. “I’ve got my new assistant coming in at ten. Leslie will throw a fit if I’m not there.”

“I can’t believe you get your own assistant,” Andy shook his head in wonderment as they boarded the elevator. “That’s so cool. My wife is so, so important.”

April grinned, and squeezed his hand. “I didn’t even want one at first, but then I remembered that I can make him do all the stupid, boring shit that I hate doing. Which leaves us more time to sneak away whenever we want, so win-win, right?”

“Right.”

They casually walked back into the office, and immediate Leslie swooped down upon them. Andy stepped back a foot, afraid for an actual second that she was going to charge at him. She looked completely frazzled.

“There you guys are!” she all but shouted. “God, how long does it take to grab some extra pens from the supply closet?” She looked at the both of them, her arms crossed, waiting. Neither of them said anything—because honestly, Andy had forgotten that was their excuse. “Well, where are the pens?”

“Uh,” Andy looked at April, who chuckled.

“Forgot them,” she shrugged, walking past Leslie and back to her desk.

Andy gave Leslie an apologetic shrug, as the blonde woman muttered something about _“there’s a time and a place for everything,”_ and he took his seat at the adjacent desk.

When the idea about getting April an assistant had first arisen, Andy had offered to take the job. Why wouldn’t he want to work side-by-side with his wife? Since working at National Parks part-time, he practically did anyway. But then Leslie said something about how he would need to be there all the time, and that interfered with his Johnny Karate filming schedule, which was a bummer. Then April mentioned how she thought it would be weird if her husband was her assistant, and he dropped the matter altogether.

Now, they were awaiting the arrival of the guy who had gotten the job. Andy hadn’t met him, but according to Leslie he was fantastic. According to April, he was _“fine,”_ and by his wife’s standards that was pretty damn good.

“Okay, Jordan will be here any minute,” Leslie announced, clutching a file of papers in her arms as the other office workers bustled around the room. “When he gets here, I need you to have him fill this stuff out before he starts. Then, hand the papers to me—“

“I got it, weirdo,” April rolled her eyes.

“Right.”

Andy watched Leslie hurry back to her desk. Lately, she’d been even more worked up than usual.

“Babe, what’s Leslie all crazy for?” he asked.

“Oh, there’s just a lot going on,” April replied casually, typing away at her computer. “She’s got another business trip coming up, and one of the triplets supposedly has a stomach bug…all kinds of stuff like that.”

“Are you going on this trip with her?” he asked, an overwhelming sense of sadness hitting him out of nowhere. Seriously, he’d just gotten her back. He wasn’t exactly excited at the idea that she’d have to leave again.

“No,” April said, her eyes on her screen as she reached out and took his hand. “I don’t have to go on this one.”

“Thank God, because—“

“April,” Leslie was back, and this time she wasn’t alone. “Look who I found!”

April’s assistant—Jordan, or whatever—was nearly as tall as Andy was. He had similar colored hair and blue eyes, reminding him a bit of his old friend Chris Traeger. Andy watched as the new guy reached out to shake April’s hand, flashing her a smile filled with the whitest teeth he’d ever seen.

“April,” he said smoothly. “Nice to see you again. I’m really excited to get this job.”

“You too,” April gave him one of her rare smiles back. “Don’t know why you want to be an assistant, but whatever.”

Leslie turned to Andy next. “Jordan, this is Andy Dwyer. He works here part-time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He does a bit of everything around here. He’s one of the best people in the world, _and_ he’s April’s husband. He’ll be sitting right near you.”

Andy reached out to shake the man’s hand. Jordan looked him up and down quickly, before giving him that same smile and returning the gesture.

“How’s it going?” Andy asked.

“Good,” Jordan replied. “Nice to meet you, Andy.” He glanced over at April, and back again. “You’ve got good taste.”

Andy furrowed his eyebrows. There was something about the way the guy said that that struck a funny chord with him. His tone was odd…almost more of a surprise than a harmless joke.

“Yeah,” Andy said slowly. “I’m a lucky guy. April’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” He looked over at his wife, who had already returned to her work.

“That’s so wonderful,” Jordan shook his head. “Well, guess I’d better get to it.” He turned, and took a seat at the empty desk beside April and Andy’s.

Andy took his own seat and tried to remember where he left off before he and April had gone to the fourth floor. Next to him, April was explaining the paperwork to Jordan, while the latter watched her intently.

He couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit annoyed that this guy was going to get to work practically side by side with _his_ wife five days a week. He tried to tell himself that the feeling was natural, that he had plenty of important things to do around here and he’d get to do all of them only a few feet from where April sat. But then he noticed the way Jordan’s eyes kept averting their attention to other parts of April’s body whenever she looked away, and Andy felt something he only felt in the rarest of times—anger.

 

“Okay, so now that the stupid paperwork is done,” April sighed, already feeling overwhelmed enough about the week ahead. Now, she had to make sure this new guy didn’t mess anything up. “you can do some actual work.” She looked to her right. Her new assistant was typing some stuff on his computer, which already annoyed her, because he was supposed to be listening. “Hey!”

“Sorry,” Jordan said, smiling sheepishly at her. “I was just looking something up. What d’you need me to do, boss?”

“First of all, don’t call me boss,” April scrunched her nose. “Second, I sent you an email with a link to some files I need to you transfer, with instructions on where to send them.”

“Okay.”

“Then there’s more stuff in there about what to do afterwards. Just don’t bother me until—“

“What are you doing for lunch?”

“Huh?” April thought she heard wrong. She looked behind her, and Andy was across the room near the filing cabinets. “What?”

“I asked if you had any plans for lunch,” he said. “I thought maybe you could show me around City Hall, y’know? So I don’t annoy you too much if I ask any questions.” He smiled wide at her.

“No…I have lunch plans with my husband, I—“

“Oh, April, that's a fantastic idea!” Leslie must have overheard Jordan’s suggestion, because all of a sudden she was beside them, beaming. “I’d love for you to show Jordan around, you know…the same tour I gave you on your first day! I know Andy will understand."

“Okay first of all,” April said. “I have no recollection of any boring tour you made me take. I pushed it so far out of my memory there’s no way of getting it back. Second, I have plans with Andy.”

“April and her sense of dark humor,” Leslie smiled at Jordan. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” Jordan said, grinning at April.

_Why was this guy always smiling?_

“Like I was saying,” April continued. “I have to—“

“April,” Leslie pulled her off to the side, grasping her lightly on the arm. “Please do this for me? I’m swamped, Ben’s out of town, and you’re going to be in charge around here while I’m away on this next business trip. Just please…make my life a little easier.”

The older woman looked so defeated and desperate, April couldn’t help her reaction. With a heavy sigh, she nodded. “Fine.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Leslie hugged her, and immediately April tensed up. “I know you hate hugs, I’m sorry,” she beamed, releasing her.

April walked back over to her desk. Jordan was waiting, doing something at his computer.

“So I guess I’ll show you around at lunch,” she said. “I’ve gotta get some work done, so just keep doing whatever it is you’re doing until I need you.”

“You got it,” Jordan replied.

April looked around for Andy, spotting him by the coffee pot in the little kitchen area. As usual, he smiled when he saw her coming, a sight April would never, ever tire of.

“Hey honey,” he pulled her in for a kiss. “What’s up?”

“Ugh, today sucks,” she replied, wrapping her arms around him. “Leslie wants me to show that new guy around during lunch break today.”

“But,” Andy looked down at her, and she could see the disappointment in his eyes. “I thought _we_ were having lunch today?”

“I know,” she sighed. “I’m sorry babe. Leslie was begging me, and she looked like she was gonna fall to pieces if I said no. I promise, we’ll have lunch on Wednesday.” She could feel his heavy hands come to rest on her lower back.

“It’s fine,” Andy shrugged. “I totally get it, I mean, Leslie does so much for us, so…”

“Yeah,” she leaned her head against him. “That’s what I thought, too.”

 

Andy looked over April’s head to where her assistant was seated at his desk. The thing that really unnerved him was that as soon as he looked up, Jordan was already watching the two of them. He quickly looked away when his eyes met Andy’s.

“Babe,” Andy said slowly, his eyes trained on the Jordan’s desk. “What do you think of your assistant so far?”

April shrugged. “He’s okay, I guess. I don’t know, everyone is stupid except you.”

“Aw, thanks hon—“

“April!”

The two of them turned their heads at the same time, and Jordan was calling her over with a wave of his hand.

“I’d better go see what he wants,” she muttered. “Seriously, can’t anyone do anything on their own?”

As she walked away, Andy watched Jordan. His smile was fixed, but there was something in his eyes that wasn’t warm at all. Something about that guy just didn’t feel right. Part of him wanted to invite himself along on their lunch just to keep an eye on him. Then, he thought better of it. April might think he was jealous, or worse, that he didn’t trust her.

So he waited. He went about his day working, helped Leslie, took a few calls in his down time related to his television show, and watched the clock. The lunch break seemed to drag on and on, and he watched the door waiting for April’s return.

When she finally came back, he was waiting by her desk.

“Hey!” he smiled at her. “How was lunch? Where’s what’s-his-face?”

Before she could answer, Jordan walked in. Still smiling his creepy smile, he approached the two of them and handed Andy a cup of coffee.

“Here,” he said. “April told me you love coffee, and since the two of us were getting some for ourselves, I figured I’d grab you one too.”

Andy could feel his hand muscles flexing involuntarily. He tried to smile back, but instead it must have looked like a weird grimace, because April was looking at him oddly.

“Babe,” she said, when he didn’t answer. “You gonna take the coffee, or what?”

“Thanks,” he said stiffly, accepting it.

“Your wife is seriously the coolest person around,” Jordan went on. “I’ve never met anyone who knew so much random information about this place.”

Andy glanced at his wife, who merely looked annoyed.

“Yeah well,” April shuffled her feet. “I wasn’t seriously gonna give you the history of this stupid building. So I made a bunch of stuff up and we walked around a few times.”

“Wow, that sounds great,” Andy said hurriedly. “Super awesome stuff. Yeah, I know she’s the coolest, because she’s my wife, so…you don’t need to remind me,” he laughed coldly.

April was eyeing him suspiciously as the three of them returned to their desks. To Andy, the rest of the day dragged on longer than he ever could have imagined.

 

Andy couldn’t sleep well that night. He’d tossed and turned, so much so that April had moved to the other side of the bed out of frustration, when usually they’d fall asleep in each other’s arms. Now, the absence of her small body fitting neatly against his was foreign and strange.

“What’s wrong?” she finally asked him, once it was nearly one in the morning and he was still wide awake.

“Nothing,” he lied.

“Andy,” she scooted closer to him again. “You can’t hide things from me. What’s bothering you?”

He sighed. She was going to think he was jealous. “I don’t like Jordan.”

“Who?” she looked confused for a fraction of a second. “Oh! My assistant? Why?”

“I dunno…something about him rubs me the wrong way. I don’t like the way he looks at you, either.”

“Oh yeah?” she climbed into his lap, seating herself firmly against him. “How does he look at me?”

Andy shifted beneath her. “Like how _I’m_ supposed to be looking at you.”

“Andy Dwyer,” she smirked, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Are you jealous?”

“What? No!” he said quickly. “April, I’m not! I just don’t get a good vibe from him. He seems…I don’t know…he seems fake.”

April kissed him hard on the mouth, and all talk on the matter was ended for the moment. Andy was too busy kissing her back, his hands running over the familiar curves of her hips and thighs. Once she broke away, she had a hazy look in her eyes as she stared at him.

“Babe,” she whispered. “Don’t worry.”

“I know, but—“

“Andy,” she huffed. “Do you seriously think I don’t know how to handle myself?”

“Of course I don’t think that,” he said, hurt by the question. “I just want to make sure you’re okay all the time…”

“I’m fine,” she said softly. “You need to trust me, and trust that I know to stay away from someone if they’re not a good person.”

Andy only nodded. He didn’t know what else to do. “I do trust you,” he whispered.

“Good,” she pulled her oversize tee shirt over her head, tossing it somewhere on the floor as she settled firmly in his lap once again. “Now that we’ve got that settled…let’s fix this problem about you not sleeping.” Her hand found the elastic waist band of his boxers. “I think I can help you with that.”

He lay back against the pillows and temporarily forgot his worries. April had a knack for taking his mind off things in the best ways.

 

April hated Tuesdays and Thursdays. Andy filmed his show on those days, and although she had a lot of work to do at National Parks, she missed him like crazy.

Leslie had already left for her business trip, and April was in charge. She wasn’t worried about that part…most of the other workers were either afraid of her, or actually did their jobs correctly, leaving her in a good place when it came to getting everything done. The only exception was Terry, but he sucked at practically everything and she liked to pretend he didn’t exist.

Jordan was waiting by her desk when she arrived that morning, holding a cup of coffee out for her. She accepted it, and grimaced when she tasted the sweet sugary concoction.

“Don’t like it?” he asked, looking a little disappointed.

“I don’t normally take sugar in my coffee,” she said, setting it down. “But it’s fine. Thanks.”

“Of course,” he grinned at her. “So, Andy’s not here today?”

“No, he works his other job on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” she said, organizing her things like she did every day before work.

“I see,” her assistant sat down at his adjacent desk.

April peered at him out of the corner of her eyes, trying to see if she could get the same aura that Andy did. So far, Jordan’s only crime was that he seemed like an over-eager guy who liked being an assistant way to much for his own good. She didn’t get any weird vibes, unless you counted the fact that he smiled too much.

“I’ve got a lot to do today,” she said, opening her email. “So just take any calls that come in and work on the same stuff as yesterday. I’ve got to sit in on a conference call with Leslie—“

“How long have the two of you been married?”

April looked up. “What?”

“Just wondering,” he shrugged.

“Five years,” she said slowly. “Why?”

“Wow,” he smiled at her. “That’s just…that’s something…”

“Why is it _‘something?’”_

“Dunno, you just don’t seem like the marriage type.”

“How do you know what ‘type’ I am?” Okay, now she was a little annoyed at him. She didn’t like anyone talking about her marriage, especially not some random guy she just met.

He seemed to get the hint in her voice, so he backed off, raising his hands defensively.

“I’m not trying to mean anything by it!” he said. “Just that…you and Andy…I dunno, you don’t seem like you—“

“Don’t seem like what?” she growled. “Listen, I don’t need you telling me about my marriage, okay?”

“Okay,” he looked away.

April had too much to do that morning to get worked up over stupid comments, so she quickly pushed it out of her mind. The rest of the day passed slowly, and by lunchtime she was already ready to go home. To make matters worse, Andy’s filming ran over, and he couldn’t call her like usual.

 _I miss you,_ she texted him.

 _You too, babe,_ he texted back. _Busy day today?_

 _I’ve gotta stay late,_ she wrote him.

_Me too…_

“Wanna get lunch?”

April looked up, and Jordan was there, standing beside her.

“No,” she looked back down at her phone. “I’m good.”

“Aw, c’mon April,” he said. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier about you and Andy. I’m sure he’s a great husband—”

“I don’t want to get lunch, okay? I have too much to do, and I’m waiting for a call from Andy,” she lied, knowing full well that a call wasn’t coming.

“Okay.”

She didn’t look up, but she noticed him staring at her until he disappeared through the office door.

 

Being in charge for a few days was always frustrating, in part because Leslie was always the last one to leave. Naturally, that meant April was stuck in the office until the last person had gone for the day.

As she packed up her things, thinking of nothing but being home and in Andy’s arms on the couch, she realized she wasn’t alone. Jordan was still there, too.

“Hey,” she said, packing her bag. “Why haven’t you left yet? You don’t need to stay.”

“I’m supposed to be your assistant,” he shrugged, stepping toward her. “I’ll stay as long as you’re here.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “It’s fine if you leave.”

“Actually,” he moved another step closer. “I wanted to talk to you.”

April felt a chill down her spine. She stopped what she was doing, only to meet his stare. “What?”

“I know this is sorta bold for me to ask like this…but, here goes. Why are you with Andy?”

That chill turned to anger in the blink of an eye. April took a step back, her fist clenched by her side. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Jordan said, stepping forward again. “I mean, I’m sorry but…you could do so much better than him.”

“Okay, this conversation is over,” she said, holding up her hands in front of her. “I’m done with you. This isn’t going to work out.”

“April, listen to me,” he said, and he reached for her hand. She tried to pull it away, but he was much stronger than her. “Andy is an idiot. I’ve seen him working, and I’ve seen him with you, and you deserve so much better.”

“Let go of me,” she spat, struggling to wrench free. “You don’t know me, and you _definitely_ don’t know Andy—“

The smile was gone from his face now as he pushed himself closer to her. With one arm, he pinned her against the wall behind the desk and the other tightened on her wrist. April kicked out at him with her legs, but he was too tall for her to really reach anything but his shins. His force against her was too strong.

“I could treat you so much better than him,” he said, shaking his head.

“I would _never_ go anywhere near you, you fucking psycho,” she yelled, twisting against his grasp. “Let—me—go!”

“Okay, I really didn’t want to have to get physical with you April, but you just aren’t getting the hint—“

What he didn’t see in time was Andy’s fist as it collided with the side of his head. Jordan stumbled, crashing toward the floor like dead weight.

April had never been so relieved in her life. Andy’s eyes were like fire as he watched Jordan fall to the floor. He threw another punch, this time right in his stomach. April was momentarily stunned by what had just happened before she realized she was free, and ran to her husband’s arms.

 

Andy wanted to kill him. He actually, truly wanted to _end_ this guy clutching the side of his head on the floor in front of him. Before anything else happened, he hugged his wife to his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked her immediately. “Did he hurt you at all? Babe, thank God I came to meet you here.”

“Just my wrist,” she said softly, holding onto him tightly. “I…I don’t—Andy, NO!”

Andy broke away from her to grab Jordan by the back of his neck, only to throw him back down on the ground angrily.

“I’m leaving!” the other man said loudly, backing up against the wall. “Seriously, just let me go, and I’ll leave. I won’t ever try to—“

“Don’t you fucking try to move,” Andy said angrily. “If you ever, _ever_ try to touch my wife again, I’ll kill you.” 

 

“You were right,” April said, not twenty minutes later as the cops hauled Jordan out of the building. She was sitting in his lap after giving her statement, head pressed against his shoulder. “I should’ve listened to you.”

“It’s okay,” Andy said soothingly. It was. He was just grateful he’d been there, because it could’ve been much worse. “I didn’t like the idea of you being the last one there, so I came to make sure you were okay. I’m so glad I did.”

“Can we go home?” she asked softly.

“I think so,” Andy said, standing up slowly and helping her to her feet. “C’mon…let’s go.”

 

“I can’t sleep,” April mumbled, late in the night against Andy’s back.

He rolled over and pulled her against him, pressing her back to his chest. “Just try,” he whispered.

She’d been quiet all evening. Since they’d gotten home, she hadn’t said much. Andy knew they would have to call Leslie at some point, because even though he’d been April’s assistant, technically Jordan had worked for her.

April had begged him to be the one to make the call, too shaken up to talk about it. He’d done so without a second thought.

“I keep thinking about what would have happened if you didn’t come looking for me.“

“Shh,” he stroked her hair. “There wouldn’t have been a situation like that, because I would have always come looking for you. That’s part of my job, you know that. I’ll protect you until the day I die, babe.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” she said. “That ass was such a total creep…”

“It’s okay,” he smiled, kissing her bare shoulder. “From what I overheard before I punched his lights out, he didn’t exactly think much of me, either.”

April looked up at him, her eyes hard. “Don’t you _ever_ think for one second that any of what he said was true,” she said. “You’re the best person in the world and I wouldn’t want to spend my life with anyone else.”

“I know, babe,” Andy nodded. “I mean, I know I’m not the smartest guy, but—“

“Stop,” she brought a finger to his lips. “I don’t even wanna hear it, Andy.”

He smiled at her, and she returned it.

“I love you so much,” he said.

“Love you too.”

Nothing, and no one, was ever going to try to harm her again. Not while he was around.


End file.
